Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Cereal killer on the loose...

Wow three JW puzzles in succession and each one a completely different look. Today is totally silly, taking a single letter out of a cereal name to create a very foolish sounding concoction.

PARFAIT,  ON A RIDE,  LAVORIS,  FLORIST,  I/LL HIDE,  CLEANER,  SETTERS,  TRADE IN, PLANARIA,  DERRIERE,  INCHOATE,  ROPE KNOT, ON RECEIPT;  ARTICHOKE



18A. Knockoff cereal? : FROSTED FLAKES (12).

28A. Cold cereal? : PUFFED RICE (9).

37A. Recalled cereal? : FROOT LOOPS (9).

48A. Prohibited cereal? : RAISIN BRAN (9).

57A. Mystery cereal? : SHREDDED WHEAT (12).



Across:

1. Did a gondolier's job : POLED. Venice (Vennis) anyone?

6. Wedding planner's contact : FLORIST. I loved our wedding flowers.

13. Like antique watches : ANALOG. Not digital.

15. Freshwater flatworms : PLANARIA.  Ucky WORMS.

16. Hiker's challenge : RAVINE. A deep narrow steep-sided valley, esp one formed by the action of running water.

17. Caboose : DERRIERE. Not of the train, but of the body. French.

20. Swift's medium : AIR. Tom Swift?

21. Runner in the Alps : SKI. Nice misdirection.

22. Expire : CEASE.

26. "And if __, no soul shall pity me": King Richard III : I DIE. They did not even after Shakespeare tried to help.

32. Charged wheels : TESLAS. Electric cars.

35. With 24-Down, course for future pundits : POLI. 24D. See 35-Across : SCI. Political Science.

36. Hägar creator Browne : DIK.

40. "Get off the stage!" : BOO. Hiss.

43. Corrida figure : TORO. The bull.

44. Philosophers' subject : ETHICS.

51. "Ex's & Oh's" singer King : ELLE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uLI6BnVh6w

52. MetLife competitor : AFLAC. Insurance companies.

53. Span of note : ERA.

56. Court mulligan : LET. The odd tennis do over on your first serve.

62. Disorganized : INCHOATE. Really more unformed than disorganized, especially in the law.

65. Emmy-winning role for Julia : ELAINE Benes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rawLHmdkpl8

66. Mooring hitch, for one : ROPE KNOT.

67. More thoughtful : KINDER.

68. Deal on a lot : TRADE IN.

69. Round components, maybe : BEERS. Whew, half done, let me get this round.

Down:

1. Baskin-Robbins offering : PARFAIT. I never knew they had these.

2. Enjoying the amusement park : ON A RIDE.

3. Brand that's swirled, not swallowed : LAVORIS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_-fcN5x49w

4. Eero Saarinen and others : ELIS. More Yale, he graduated from their school of architecture in 1934.

5. They're forbidden : DON'TS.

6. Little nipper : FLEA.

7. Frolic : LARK.

8. How some deliveries are paid : ON RECEIPT. COD?

9. Brought up : RAISED.

10. Choler : IRE.

11. Mr. Bumble, to Oliver Twist : SIR.

12. __ Bo : TAE.

14. "The Big Bang Theory" figure : GEEK. Rhymes with 25D. "That's scary!" : EEK. 54D. Be offensive, in a way : REEK. Did you watch GOT and the REEK?

15. Freebie from Adobe : PDF. Portable Document Format.

19. Go down : DIP. Love these two together.

23. Prop up : AID.

27. Middle-earth figure : ELF.

29. __ point: with limitations : UP TO A. A partial?

30. Rock's __ Fighters : FOO. When Cobain died, his drummer founded THEM.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjBUBFKb5zY

31. Penguin's perch : FLOE.

33. Edible thistle : ARTICHOKE.

34. "Just another minute" : SOON.

38. Spheroid : ORB.

39. Ewe or sow : SHE.

40. It may be wired : BRA.

41. Boor : OAF.

42. Peanut product : OIL.

45. Offer to a potential seeker : I'LL HIDE.

46. Dry __ : CLEANER.

47. English and Irish : SETTERS.

49. Like some beauty contest winners : SASHED.

50. Neighbor of Homer : NED.

55. Response to a heckler : AD LIB.

58. Indian royal : RANI.

59. "The most private of private schools," to Hugh Laurie : ETON.
60. Rizzoli of "Rizzoli & Isles": Abbr. : DETective.

61. Decrease : WANE.

62. NYC subway : IRT.  Interborough Rapid Transit was a private company until bought by the city in 1940.

63. "__ will I" : NOR. Talk about your obscure clue/fill combos. Am I missing a famous quote?

64. IRS employee : CPA. Certified Public Accountant.

Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: You begin please Auntie Em.

JW our resident Friday wizard comes back to back and presents us with a vertical challenge in which EM is added four 2 word phrases, changing the meaning and clued for whimsy. Each theme answer and the reveal are in Down answers. Overall I found this easier once I gave in to the theme existing only in the Downs. The two symmetrical grid spanners surround two 12 letter fill with a 9 letter reveal which mirrors 1 down, which tantalized me with the ME therein. But it makes no sense, so I move on without thinking of it as part of the theme.

The grid is an unusual one, and checking the NYT database (I do not know of one for the LAT) it is unique. The double sevens bracketing the 15 letter theme fill and triple sixes under a seven in the SW and NE corners with a bunch of stacked three letter fill. The longer non-theme fill is typical JW with many multiple words. IN A CAGE,  ESCORTS,  UP TO NOW,  SCENE VI, GROANER, STORMED IN. HOME ALONE. EURO COINS.  Okay off we go....

3D. Lining with raised decorations? : EMBOSSING AROUND (15). My least favorite, while the underlying phrase is fun (bossing around) and embossing is a fine transformation, I do not get lining or AROUND.

6D. Mideast leader's personal CPA? : EMIRS AUDITOR (12). This however is very cute and the IRS auditor goes to work in Saudi Arabia.

22D. Snoopy starting a trip? : EMBARKING DOG (12). Simple and sweet.

11D. Insurance for royalty? : EMPRESS COVERAGE (15). Press coverage is a basketball term that may not familiar to all, but the perps were very fair.

36D. Robber's demand ... or what to do to solve four long puzzle answers? : STICK 'EM UP(9). Again, with all the three letter fill this was not hard.

I also want you to watch for classic clues/fill from the Greek/Roman world.


Across:

1. "For __ had eyes, and chose me": Othello : SHE. Sweet Desdemona begins our Friday journey.

4. Utterly failed at : BLEW. A somewhat modern usage/

8. With great urgency : DIRELY.

14. Gobbler : TOM. What cool trivia; only the adult male turkey makes the gobble, gobble sound. The adult male is called the "tom" turkey. The female or hen turkey makes a gentle clucking or clicking sound. The hen never gobbles.

15. Blue-skinned deity : RAMA. Interesting HISTORY. But why  BLUE? Worth a read.

16. Ferrous sulfate target : ANEMIA. A form of iron used for iron deficiency anemia.

17. Fed. financial agency : OMB. Office of Management and Budget works for the President.

18. "Metamorphoses" poet : OVID. I studied this WORK in Latin, a very influential piece.

19. How pooches' smooches are delivered : DAMPLY. Cute especially if you like dogs and have been slobbered.

20. Model T contemporary : REO. Named after Mr. Olds. Then, 33D. Bygone small car : GEO.

21. "The Iliad" subject : WAR.We also have this important Greek TOME.

22. Goes with : ESCORTS. No DF here.

23. Ancient theater props : MASKS. More from the Classics.

25. Added result : SUM.

27. Bellicose deity : ARES.More from the classics. Ares is the Greek god of war, one of the Twelve Olympian gods and the son of Zeus and Hera.

28. Pitcher of milk? : ELSIE. For Borden.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TXzyebLmbk

29. It may include a model, briefly : APB. All Points Bulletin??????A model?

30. Pumped item : GAS.

31. "Now!" : DO IT.

32. Storm consequence : OUTAGE. Power, phone and cable.

34. French possessive pronoun : SES. In French this is outright wrong; ses is the possessive adjective that must be attached to a noun. The possessive pronouns in French are like 45D. Yuma : Yours :: Toulouse : à ___ : TOI. In English the pronouns and the adjectives are the same word. Of course this is all from memory from 55 years ago, so Kazie, C. C. tell me if I am wrong...

my                   mon     ma mes
your                 ton       ta         tes
his, her, its son      sa         ses
our                 notre    notre nos
your               votre    votre vos
their                 leur     leur leurs

37. Priceline options : INNS. They hired Shatner back.

38. Have a special place for : ADORE.

39. __ work: menial labor : SCUT. This comes either from the Irish word for meaningless or maybe the medical profession.

40. Batt. terminal : NEGative.

41. Plastered : STINKO.

42. Amos with eight Grammy nominations : TORI.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSGMjB3HbGM

43. "Castle" producer : ABC. About to be cancelled.

46. Ruination : HAVOC. It is listed as a synonym but not my first thought.

47. __-dieu : PRIE.

48. Take responsibility for : OWN. Another modern usage, I guess from the old saying own up to.

49. Hair care brand since 1930 : BRECK. You remember this Breck girl?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbxNnebCzlI

50. Pun, sometimes : GROANER.

52. Motor Trend's 1968 Car of the Year : GTO. By Pontiac. My brother's was blue.

54. Eggs on toast, perhaps : ROE. Fish eggs, silly. Oh, you were not...

55. Diverted : AMUSED.

56. Dutch export : EDAM. Cheese again.

57. Desired result : AIM.

58. Swiss city, to most locals : GENEVE. Geneva to the rest of us.

59. The Taj Mahal, e.g. : TOMB. It is a mausoleum with a specific tomb as its inspiration, I think. LINK.

60. African bovine : GNU.

61. Turns out to be : ENDS IN. This was really a struggle.

62. Elements in vital statistics : AGES.

63. Dubious communication method : ESP.

Down:

1. Entered angrily : STORMED IN.

2. Huge holiday film : HOME ALONE. Where are you Macaulay? This is more than 25 years old.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK2Btk6Ybm0

4. Window-shop : BROWSE.

5. Kilauea sight : LAVA.

7. Singles group, e.g.? : WAD.  Funny, especially with other meanings aside from  "a large amount of paper money, usually in a wallet or pants pocket. Sometimes referred to as "a wad of dough.'"

8. June honorees : DADS.

9. Visiting the vet, maybe : IN A CAGE.

10. Suckerfish : REMORA. These hitchhikers....

12. Light melodies : LILTS.

13. Appreciative shouts : YAYS.

24. They encourage modeling : KITS.

26. As yet : UP TO NOW.

32. Word with meal or cake : OAT.

35. Change overseas, maybe : EURO COINS. They introduced a new one last week. LINK.

39. George Clooney, for one : STAR.

41. When in Act I Duncan arrives at Macbeth's castle : SCENE VI. Double Shakespeare this week.

44. Slants : BIASES.

46. Cold War threats : H BOMBS.

47. Spin docs : P R MEN.

50. "Eleni" author Nicholas : GAGE.

51. Perfect place : EDEN. If you like gardens.

53. Not that exciting : TAME.

56. H-like letter : ETA. The seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, only the capital looks like ( Η, η).

Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Where R you?

JW is back in my backyard with a truly ambitious effort, built around a simple theme...take the letter "R" out of a word in a phrase and clue with hilarity. Package this in a 68 word grid with all kinds of fun fill. Quad sixes in the NW and SE Corners mixed in with double 7s over grid spanning theme fill make for a really cool puzzle. Locating two sixteen letter phrases that become  funny phrases when you remove an R is an amazing find.  Only one R per phrase, and all are removed.The 6-7-8 fill include some wonderful stuff like CABANA, AVOCET,  REVERE,  CREDOS,  DEMEAN,  MY DUST, BAD LEAD,  ADAGIOS,  TAVERNA,  ON A AND E,  CHAUCER,  NELLIES,  TIE GAME, TRIES IT and  ASSAYER. As always, some of his choices are two or more words.  Let's get 'er done.

17A. Oath sworn in a kosher kitchen? : ABOVE ALL DO NO HARM (15). Some Greek, as this hearkens to the Hippocratic Oath for Physicians but it is a popular misconception that the phrase "do no harm" is a part of the oath. Jews do not eat pork products so do no ham is true. The rumor about WalMart advertising is not, it was a Greenwich Village deli.











27A. Double-dealing in Delhi? : INDIAN CORN (9). I am sure there are con men in India as well. The corn was a colorful part of childhood.

32A. Cutthroat entrepreneur? : BUSINESS CARD (11). How many of you keep anyone's business cards anymore? CAD is such an old fashioned word.

38A. Demand from a Stooge fan? : SHOW ME MORE (9). A wonderful CSO to our Chairman.

54A. "Stir-frying is an option, too"? : I COULD USE THE WORK (15). Another delightful phrase emerged. We do not own a wok.

Across:

1. Not as available : SCARCER. Not the easiest of 1A, but fair.

8. Red herring, to a cop : BAD LEAD. Police depend on leads from the public in many investigations, enhanced in modern days by all the cameras.

15. Athens eatery : TAVERNA. I love me a good Greek TAVERN especially the tzatziki, spanakopita and souvlaki.

16. Where to view "Duck Dynasty" : ON A AND E. This has an attractive letter string but is hardly fair as the network is always A & E. Do you think puzzles should include ampersands?

19. Hightailed it : RACED.

20. Le Mans law : LOI. A French word for Law.

21. Great Plains tribe : OSAGE. One of the Native American tribes loved by CW puzzlemakers.

22. 9-Down opener : ENERO. Spanish for January

23. '50s pres. candidate : AES. Adlai Ewing Stevenson. ran agains DDE twice.

25. Long of "Third Watch" : NIA. This girl has WORKED.  She is on the left.

26. New Year's Eve get-togethers? : DATES. Meh.

30. "A symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal": Steinbeck : WAR. The LINK.

31. Old knives : SNEES. We have this 5 or 6 times a year.

36. Pool option : CRAWL. Back again, a stroke popular in swimming.

37. Six-time '70s Dodger All-Star : CEY. Ron, the Penguin, was part of a great Dodger infield, and then lead the Cubs to a rare NL championship series appearance.

40. Unyielding : SOLID. When an irresistible force...













45. Lobbying gp. : PAC.

46. Neighbor of Turk. : SYRia.

47. Place to play : ARENA. Hence this GAME .

48. Riches : LUCRE. Often called filthy...

51. Deg. for drillers : DDS. Doctor of Dental Science.

53. Unyielding : STERN. Often not irresistible

57. Nervous __ : NELLIES. Comes from the description of anxious race horses.

58. No-win situation : TIE GAME.

59. Doesn't back away : TRIES IT. Vague Friday cluing, but doable.

60. Gold rush figure : ASSAYER. Very important for they told you if you really found the gold.

Down:

1. Was googly-eyed : STARED. This and scarcer were a hard beginning for me. I think of this as what Kanye looks like when he sees Kim's booty...

2. Place to bring a suit : CABANA. Bathing suit; a gimme for a Floridian.

3. Wading bird : AVOCET. Pretty BIRD.

4. Put on a pedestal : REVERE. more Kanye and Kim?

5. Beliefs : CREDOS. From the Latin.

6. "Bambi" doe : ENA. Spoiler alert, she is in the sequel.

7. Award-winning political cartoonist Ted : RALL. No clue. he apparently won a Pulitzer, but he is hard to link in a non-political blog.









8. Word with able or full : BODIED. Sailor? Wine? Kim?

9. Munich : Jahr :: Madrid : __ : ANO: Fort Lauderdale: YEAR,

10. "Hawaii Five-O" nickname : DANO.

11. Landlocked Asian nation : LAOS. I think it is the only four letter one; all I can think of are Mongolia and Kazakhstan which may only exist in Ali G's mind.

12. Heightened : ENHANCED.  Ribbed for her pleasure?

13. Slow movements : ADAGIOS. We have lots of musical clues and many musicians as constructors and solvers.

14. Insult : DEMEAN. I didn't mean to demean.

18. Some bank files : LOAN RECORDS. I prefer Loretta's records.

24. 1980 Oscar winner who portrayed Loretta : SISSY. Spacek who also was the original Carrie.
She did all of her own singing in the movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz1Ma4rdKcI

27. Actor McKellen : IAN. So many great roles.

28. Mandela's org. : ANC. African National Congress.

29. Exhibition funding gp. : NEA. National Education Association.

30. Trickery : WILES. Generally related to feminine.

32. Cabbage family member : BROCCOLI. A nephew I think.

33. Detroit labor org. : UAW, United Auto Workers.

34. Letters in personal columns : SWM. Single White Male, or perhaps swimmer who does the front crawl in his freestyle event.

35. Get : SEE. ironically perfect for a puzzle.

36. First poet interred in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner : CHAUCER.

38. Immobilize, in a way : SPLINT.

39. Something to eat in a Western? : MY DUST. While I ride off into the sunset.

40. Miss America contestants' array : SASHES.






41. Salsa brand : ORTEGA.

42. Room to maneuver : LEEWAY.

43. Where to emulate the natives : IN ROME, do as the Romans do; pinch.

44. More unpleasantly moist : DANKER.

49. Dominate : RULE.

50. Some Ivy Leaguers : ELIS. Yale gets more love than all the rest combined.

52. Words with limit or trap : SET A.

55. Agnus __ : DEI.

56. It's in many poems : 'TIS. The anagrammatic reference even dupes the '. For both Will S., JW and I, let's end with ....Sonnet 110.

"Alas, 'tis true I have gone here and there

And made myself a motley to the view..."

Happy April 15, you have until Monday to file your taxes. Really enjoyed this one as much as I have any of JW's efforts. Lemonade out

MaryEllen

Title: The clue is the pun.

4 in the language phrases with "FOR' in the center of the phrase have their meaning re-purposed by clues which change the meaning but keep the same words. I think this is our 7th from MaryEllen but our first since November 2013. I love the concept of using Peanuts the comic strip, but I am not sure the clue/fill really work for the theme. The meanings of PASS, WATCH and ROOM are changed. Ah well, they are all amusing. There also are some 7 letter fill (and one non-them 9 letter) to make us work. TYCOONS, SNEAKER,  ANAHEIM,  EROTICA,  XEROXES,  FLUFFED,  ENVIRON, HAND OFF,  ARCADIA,  ICED TEA, PERFORMER

19A. *Assist Charles M. Schulz? : WORK FOR PEANUTS (14). As opposed to chicken feed...anyway  the late Charles Schulz will always be best know for Peanuts. The original expression may come from circus animals.(1.5 MM google hits). I am having trouble with this one as in the other three the meaning of the first word is changed, but not here.

32A. *Free ticket given to Target Field players? : PASS FOR TWINS (12).  I mini-shout out to C.C. and her baseball team. 25 million hits for the phrase. It is STUDIED and watched....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEyPjkiQo_k

40A. *Timepiece at a stag party? : WATCH FOR DEER (12). But can they tell time? 47 million hits.

53A. *Law office? : ROOM FOR DISPUTE (14). My least favorite despite the 154 million hits.



Across:

1. Walks, on scorecards : BBS. Base on Balls; with the start of the real season already upon us, this is timely. It takes 4.

4. Rehab hurdle : DTS. Alcoholics often suffer from Delerium Tremens. My math teacher junior year in high school shook like a leaf in the morning.

7. Calm : SETTLE. Calm the flock.

13. "Well, __-di-dah!" : LAH. Back for repeat performance.

14. Deli choice : RYE. Did we have Ham on..last week?

15. Ducks' home : ANAHEIM. Hockey team named from a movie.

16. Some Anne Rice novels : EROTICA. Never read any of these BOOKS. Though clearly all her works have some erotic element.

18. Dupes : XEROXES. Duplication, not being taken in.

21. Completely : IN TOTO. Not Dorothy's dog, but Latin.

22. Wapiti : ELK. In the Deer family.

23. ID checker : TSA.

24. "__ any drop to drink": Coleridge : NOR.

26. Surface : EMERGE.

35. Burn soothers : ALOES.

38. Modern reaction to a riot? : LOL. A laugh riot.

39. Group of species : GENUS.

43. Important Philippines export : NICKEL. Are you keeping on the worldwide GLUT? There should be a plugged nickel joke inserted here.

44. Bros, e.g. : MEN.

45. Fraction of a joule : ERG. An erg is the amount of work done by a force of one dyne exerted for a distance of one centimeter, but I guess you knew that.

48. Not allow to atrophy : USE. Hmm, the dictionary says, "gradually decline in effectiveness or vigor due to underuse or neglect." My optic nerve atrophy is not from underuse.

50. "My vegetable love should grow / __ than empires ... ": Andrew Marvell : VASTER. This odd METAPHOR from To His Coy Mistress is studied.

58. Option play option, in football : HAND OFF. Sort of, but usually it is pitched out.

59. Home of the god Pan : ARCADIA.

60. Beverage sometimes served with mint : ICED TEA. That should make almost all of the Corner happy. Sorry Tin.

61. Besides : TOO.

62. Inning trio : ENS. A nice misdirection, as it has nothing to do with baseball, just the three Ns in the word.

63. Botched (up) : MESSED.

64. Model of industry : ANT. The modern story of the ANT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejw9Coycfcw

65. Put into words : SAY.

Down:

1. Failed miserably : BLEW IT. Very modern fill.

2. Industry leaders : BARONS. Very old fill. Clecho, 5SD. Industry leaders : TYCOONS.

3. Fan letter? : SHORT A. The A in the middle. Also, 31D. First of September? : ESS.

4. Meaning : DRIFT. I get your drift MaryEllen.

6. Prepare tuna, in a way : SEAR.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs4OtCoSC3M

7. Converse, e.g. : SNEAKER.

8. Take in : EARN.

9. Quaker pronoun : THOU.

10. It may be skillfully created by one who's all thumbs : TEXT. My favorite Clue/fill as the skill my children have texting with their thumbs baffles me.

11. Rests : LIES. Lie down vs. lay down...

12. Acute care letters : EMS. I wanted ICU or CCU but they did not work with perps.

15. Eponymous skater Paulsen : AXEL.

17. Ring decision : TKO. Technical Knock Out.

20. One putting on an act : PERFORMER.

25. Home of Norway's royal family : OSLO.

27. Bank holding: Abbr. : MTGE. Mortgage.

28. Carafe kin : EWER. Regular crossword word.

29. __ Tin Tin : RIN. It was big when I was little.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlUgjYYrp-U

30. Shaggy-tailed bovid : GNU.

32. Lot of trouble? : PECK. Sun, you are in a peck of trouble. Dictionary says it has been around since 1545.

33. "A Hard Road to Glory" writer : ASHE.

34. Merrie __ England : OLDE.

35. Plant bristle : AWN. Luckily I had this in February with James Sajdak.

36. French narrative poem : LAI. I did not know THIS.

37. Like some stocks, briefly : OTC. Over The Counter as opposed to being on an exchange.

41. Misspoke, as lines : FLUFFED. I wanted FLUBBED but the F's would not let me.

42. Surround : ENVIRON. Never heard this in the singular, but....

45. Rachmaninoff's "__-tableaux" : ETUDES. JzB one you know?  LISTEN.

46. Light-sensitive layer : RETINA. The back of the eye.

47. __ spoon : GREASY. Another old expression.

49. Upholstered piece : SOFA.

51. Fancy tie : ASCOT. Perhaps Steve or Nice Cuppa can give us the British perspective and history.

52. Hotel amenity : SPA.

53. Derby, perhaps : RACE.

54. Some bills : ONES. Or tens.

55. Chances : ODDS.

56. Speck : MOTE.

57. It may be mined : DATA. I think I linked data mining before.

58. Objective reference : HIM. One of the objective pronouns.

Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: An ENIGMA wrapped in a mystery hidden in a puzzle.

Appropriate for our 2016 April Fool's Day offering, JW gives us the letters of the word ENIGMA scrambled and hidden in known phrases. He accomplishes this with a 15x16 grid to allow for three (3) grid spanning theme answers. He finishes with a sophisticated reveal, 60A. Sir Edward Elgar composition whose title has never been solved ... and a hint to this puzzle's circles : ENIGMA VARIATIONS (16). The renowned British COMPOSER based his variations on his family and friends. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUgoBb8m1eE
The bigger grid allows for some nice non-theme long fill like GO CARTS,  TREKKIE, TRADED AT, THIS IS HE,  HORN SOLO,  HAM ON RYE,  GET A CASE,  PRETENSE, WAR GAMES,  and STAY HERE


17A. Reprimand to one not picking up : YOU'RE MAKING A MESS (16)

22A. Rail transport landmark : STEAM ENGINE (11).

39A. Minuteman, e.g. : LONG RANGE MISSILE (16).

49A. "How surprising!" : IMAGINE THAT (11).
and the aforementioned reveal:
60A. Sir Edward Elgar composition whose title has never been solved ... and a hint to this puzzle's circles : ENIGMA VARIATIONS (16).

Across:

1. Pâtisserie cake : GATEAU.

7. Sold for, as a stock : TRADED AT. Each stock transaction has a buyer and a seller, hence the concept of trade - money for shares.

15. Derby racers : GO CARTS. Well nit parade ahead...I think this refers to the soapbox derby, but the TERM is spelled wrong, sort of.

16. Taps, essentially : HORN SOLO. Man, I see a crossword theme here...HORN/HAN; JW?

19. Pound denizen : MUTT.

20. Biblical birthright seller : ESAU. Poor man was tricked.

21. Oldest of the gods, in Plato's "Symposium" : EROS. This is said by Phaedrus; not my area of expertise but this SUMMARY might help.

26. At a minimum : NO LESS. You will give me your attention, I will accept no less.

27. Swimmer's option : CRAWL. Also known as freestyle. Other choices are back stroke, breast stroke and butterfly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIU6yINLBt4

32. Invite : ASK.

35. Game winner : OOO. If you are playing tic-tac-dough.

36. Lunch order : HAM ON RYE. JW really loves multi-word fill.

42. Smoke and mirrors : PRETENSE. make believe.

43. "The Soul of a Butterfly" memoirist : ALI. Laila's daddy.

44. Essen article : DER.

45. Concluded, with "up" : SEWED.

46. First 12 children of Gaia and Uranus : TITANS. Can you name them?

54. Light, colorwise : PALE.

58. Chanel No. 1? : COCO. Cute TV misdirection.

59. Columnist Barrett : RONA.

65. Exercises displaying great strength : WAR GAMES.

66. Conventioneer with antennae, perhaps : TREKKIE.

67. "Don't budge!" : STAY HERE. Stay put sounds more familair, but this works.

68. "Honor Thy Father" author : TALESE. I have had the GUY before on Friday.

Down:

1. Exit : GO OUT.

2. Intense : ACUTE. Compared to chronic.

3. Design for some MacDonalds : TARTAN. Much more complicated than I knew. LINK.

4. Poetic "previous to" : ERE.

5. Its slot always pays : ATM. They have lots of them in the casino so you can feed the other machines.

6. Winner of all three tug-of-war medals in the 1904 Olympics: Abbr. : USA. Easy guess.

7. Formal phone call response : THIS IS HE.

8. Journalist son of Mia Farrow : RONAN. An interesting young MAN with uncertainty in his life.

9. Debate : ARGUE.

10. Some evidence : DNA. No DNA tests for Ronan and Woody.

11. Carlisle Cullen's wife in the "Twilight" series : ESME. This CHARACTER.

12. Evil follower? : DOER. Is Esme evil? Never watched the movies.

13. And : ALSO.

14. Word with coin or ring : TOSS.

15. Places to clean and press : GYMS. Nice misdirection but I go to the Gym.

18. Powder room containers : KEGS. Not the bathroom, the armory.

23. Tied up : MOORED.

24. Online finance company : ELOAN. Never heard of this COMPANY.

25. Hard-to-miss signs : NEONS. They even have a Museum in Las Vegas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAxi_jrXBq8

27. Trig function : COSINE.

28. Hosp. personnel : RNS.

29. Like much of Australia's interior : ARID.

30. Noah of "The Librarian" TV films : WYLE. I really enjoy the show and FLYNN.

31. Look wrong? : LEER. Wrong look perhaps...

32. Reichenbach Falls setting : ALPS. Famous for a FALL.

33. Teed off : SORE. Not golf this time, anger.

34. "I __ it!" : KNEW. No you did not!

37. Stradivari's tutor : AMATI. MAYBE or MAYBE NOT.

38. Lombardy's capital : MILAN.

40. Co. merged into Verizon : GTE. 64D. Part of 40-Down: Abbr. : TELephone.

41. Start one's law practice : GET A CASE. (Get and GTE) only if you are a litigator.

47. Composer Stravinsky : IGOR.

48. Hit : STRIKE.

49. Caesarean section? : I CAME. Really fun clue, I came, I saw I conquered. Veni, vidi, vici.

50. Mayflower figure : MOVER. The company.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWlK2zLolOA

51. Errant golf shots : HOOKS. Sometimes you need to hook the ball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W00lrCnG-B8

52. Musical with "jr." and "KIDS" versions for young performers : ANNIE. No idea of these variations.

53. Shock, in a way : TASE.

54. Church lineups : PEWS. Cute.

55. Gross subj.? : ANATomy.

56. Capital of Turkey : LIRA. The old money misdirect.

57. Like French toast : EGGY.

61. __-jongg : MAH.

62. Addams family member : ITT. Cousin.

63. Altar constellation : ARA.

Well did you find this to be a puzzling puzzle?  The theme is a variation of a quotation from Winston Churchill in a 1939 radio broadcast  "I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."  Still a factor in the world...I hope you enjoyed the return of JW and spring. Lemonade out.